In the poem, Richard Cory is believed to be superior in contrast to the working people. The poem states, “Whenever Richard Cory went down town, we people on the pavement looked at him” (754). The working people had very little money and work consistently to survive, “So on we worked, and waited for the light, and went without the meat, and cursed the bread” (755). The people admired Richard Cory and wished to one day have the same wealth as Richard Cory, “And he was rich—yes, richer than a king” (755). Richard Cory is well-presented, and the people described Richard Cory appearance as “Cleaned favored, an imperially slim” (754). In the poem, the people also described Richard Cory as a “gentleman from sole to crown” (754) and “And admirably schooled in every grace” (755). Richard Cory symbolized everything a working man strived to accomplish, “To make us wish that we were in his place” (755). In the poem, the people represent the lower working-class and Richard Cory represents the higher level of society. The people hope to one day become like Richard Cory through hard work and determination. In the poem, clearly the people think Richard Cory has the perfect life and have no knowledge of the struggles Richard Cory faces. Throughout the poem, the reader believes that Richard Cory is a legendary man. Richard Cory is depicted as a man who kept to himself, the poem states, “He was always quietly arrayed” (754). In the poem, the people also portray Richard Cory as down to earth, it states, “He was always human when he talked” (754). Richard Cory did not believe he was better than anyone else; he was humble. Richard Cory is also noticeable, the people stated, “He glittered when he walked” (754). Everyone held Richard Cory as in higher figure, so ending of the poem is surprising. The last line of the poem states, “Went home and put a bullet through his head” (755). The ending of the poem is shocking to the reader; the reader is not expecting Richard Cory to commit suicide. The poem describes Richard Cory in a graceful manner, and the reader would not assume the ending. The people describe a two-dimensional Richard Cory. Throughout the poem, the people simply analyze Richard Cory appearance and do not understand the inner being of Richard Cory. In the poem, the reader is concealed to the instability that Richard Cory encountered that caused his suicide. The reader perceives Richard Cory as an ideal man and is not aware of the difficulties Richard Cory battles internally. After Richard Cory’s suicide the poem ends, but the poem indicates that the people learn from Richard Cory’s death. In the poem, the people realize that Richard Cory’s life was not as fascinating as they expected, the poem states that, “We thought that he was everything to make us wish that we were in his place” (755). The people believe that Richard Cory is a magnificent man because of his appearance. However, the people never really understand what is going on in the life of Richard Cory; the people did not understand the struggles Richard Cory experiences inside. The reason Richard Cory commits suicide is insignificant because the reader still can interpret the message that the appearance of a person can be misleading. In life, there are always subject matters in which things seem better than what they are. Everyone in some aspect has impairments that halt their progression to find life’s satisfactions. Richard Corey had everything a person can dream of such as his class and wealth. He also had intangibles that many envied such as humility and appearance. These qualities do not guarantee instantaneous happiness, as depicted in the poem. Happiness, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. Meaning what a person may find satisfying or joyous, does not correlate with the rest of the population. Everyone has his or her own idea of happiness. In the poem, the working class admires what Richard Cory possesses. The process in which Richard Cory gained his wealth in...

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...“RichardCory”
Poetry has been a constant form of art for centuries and has allowed poets to truly express their deepest desires or feelings. The poem “RichardCory” by Edwin Arlington Robinson, written in 1897 (Bildir) uses simplicity, irony, and a melodic rhyme scheme that sounds similar to a song. The main theme throughout the poem is that people are not always who they appear to be. Moreover, the people that seem to have it all may still be emotionally unstable and appearances are deceiving. This particular poem is written in just sixteen stanzas in which it describes a man named RichardCory, who happens to be very wealthy. He is envied and admired by the individuals of the town who are less fortunate and on a lower class level than himself. In the end of the poem, RichardCory commits suicide by putting a bullet through his head. The most interesting part of the whole poem is the reasoning beside his suicide. Why would a man take his life when he had everything anyone would ever desire? The people of the town maintained their prejudices and admirations towards Richard, which were far from reality and by doing this; Richard was put on a petastool, which in return pushed him to commit suicide.
RichardCory is known to us only by “We people on the pavement” (Bildir) meaning we only see his exterior...

...reverence and the song curses him, but both the song and the poem wish for what he had.
The poem RichardCory by Edward Arlington Robinson and the Paul Simon song of the same name share many attributes. The theme is the same: in both the song and the poem, the title character is somewhat aloof and distant from the rest of society due to his wealth and position. I think Paul Simon was interested in the mystery: the question of exactly why he might kill himself given that he appears to be living a charmed life.
In the poem, the first two stanzas focus on RichardCory but not so much on how he is perceived. The description of him is almost factual, e.g. “he was a gentleman from sole to crown, clean-favoured and imperially slim.” Even though there’s a positive perception of him, the author doesn’t bring up the issues of envy or jealousy until the end of the third stanza “we thought that he was everything / To make us wish that we were in his place. “ However, in contrast, the Paul Simon song introduces the idea of envy earlier. He brings in a first person singular narrator who is envies Cory’s position. The contrast between the two is even greater because the narrator works in his factory. He also emphasizes the poverty of the factory workers earlier. In the Arlington poem, that’s given in just one line (“went without the meat and cursed the bread”).
In the Paul Simon Song, Cory is larger-than-life....

...﻿Abigail Bauer
AP English
02/17/15
While reading the poems “RichardCory” and “Ezra Farmer”, it is almost immediately evident which poem is an original and which is a parody. Both poems are clearly about men that are popular among those he meets, but once the reader looks beneath the surface, they notice how the diction plays an important role in relaying the theme to the audience it is presented to. In the poem “RichardCory” written by Edwin Arlington Robinson, the theme being portrayed is that people are not always as how they seem.
In the first stanzas of each poem the differences are subtle yet noticeable. Robinson chooses to use the phrase “went down town” while the parody says “chose to go”. The differences in diction here show how RichardCory goes out to do daily things while Ezra Farmer goes out to be noticed. The following line is the exact same except Robinson says “pavement” unlike “sidewalk” in the parody. This subtle change could hint towards the differences in social classes between the men, or in the way they carry themselves, given that sidewalk tends to be higher up than pavement in physical means. In the third line, the parody changes “from sole to crown” to “from heel to toe”. Robinson’s use of “from sole to crown” implies that RichardCory is a wholesome man from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head; whereas the parody says “heel...

...inside. "RichardCory" by Edwin Arlington Robinson, "We wear the mask" by Paul Laurence Dunbar, and "I'm nobody! Who are you?" by Emily Dickinson each give examples of appearances in contrast to reality. Robinson's "RichardCory" is essentially about a man who is set upon a golden pedestal by others and due to his suppressed sadness, kills himself. "We wear the mask" by Dunbar shows us society's use of a "mask" to hide their sorrow and grief, grinning and smiling when they truly feel overwhelmed with sadness. Dickinson's "I'm nobody!" tells of the role of "somebody" in society as opposed to a "nobody", deeming the truth as the latter of the two. In Robinson's "RichardCory," Dunbar's "We wear the mask," and Dickinson's "I'm nobody!" appearance versus reality is exhibited through the usage of poetic language evoking various feelings in the reader. With each authors use of poetic language feelings are stirred and the discrepancies between appearances and reality are clearly expressed.
Robinson's "RichardCory" lets us closely examine appearances in contrast with reality. All who knew of RichardCory held him in reverence; they glorified him and were quite jealous of his lifestyle. "And he was always quietly arrayed, and he was always human when he talked; but still he fluttered pulses when he said, 'Good morning,' and he glittered when...

...Analysis of RichardCory
In the ironic poem, “RichardCory” by Edwin Arlington Robinson, the author conveys a simple profound message that someone else’s life may not be an ideal existence. Richard Cory’s wealth, distinction and admiration from the ‘people on the pavement’ demonstrated that in their eyes he was the American dream. He was respected, well admired, envied and they wished they could trade lives with him. “RichardCory” is a dramatic poem, written in four stanzas of regular alternating rhyme scheme. The speaker is a town person or a member of the lower class community. The speaker describes the town’s people view of a high class upstanding citizen.
The speaker in the poem assumes RichardCory is everything anyone could want to be since Cory possesses, materialistically, all that can make one happy. The speaker takes for granted the idea that the grass is greener on the other side; that money brings happiness; and his words “And he was rich-yes, richer than a king”/In fine we thought that he was everything to make us wish that we were in his place” shows no insight that it might bring emptiness rather than happiness ultimately revealing that wealth does not always bring the serenity that one desires but it creates the illusion of contentment.
It is strange how someone who supposedly has everything money can buy,...

...Elias Diaz
Introduction to Literature
Frost and Robinson
Poetry is a form of art and literature that dates back to about 500 B.C. It is composed of lyrical stanzas that were said to be written in such a way so that they could be remembered, recited, and/or performed in front of an audience. Poems are written in lines that follow a certain rhythm and are separated into verses. Two very great poets of the nineteenth and twentieth century would include Robert Frost who wrote Road not Taken, and Edwin Arlington Robinson who wrote RichardCory.
Born in San Francisco, California, Robert Frost was the son of Isabella Moodie and a journalist, William Prescott Frost, Jr. Frost wrote his very first poem My Butterfly. An Elegy.in 1894, and sold it for a whopping fifteen dollars. It went on to be published in New York Independent that same year. In 1915 he launched a teaching career at Amherst College where he taught English. He also went on to win two Pulitzer Prizes for his collection of poems.
Edwin Arlington Robinson was born on December 22, 1869 in Head Tide, Maine. Robinson’s young child and adult hood life was said to be unhappy and dreadful. Both his parents wanted a girl instead of a boy, so he wasn’t given a name right away. Instead at six months they asked a man of Arlington, Massachusetts to pick a name out of a hat for the nameless boy. His early unhappiness is what caused many of his poems to be dark and pessimistic; they usually...

...﻿Raphael Niknam 12/24/2014
RichardCory
A poem named RichardCory was written by Edwin Arlington Robinson, it contains much depth and character. Richard was a man who everybody looked up to. He was the ultimate gentleman yet he still addressed folks on their own level when conversing with them. We can see from the phrase ‘And he was rich -- yes, richer than a king--‘that Richard was truly wealthy. His mannerism and character was such that he was adored by all. As we can infer from the verse ‘And admirably schooled in every grace’. Richard was the man everyone envied, the person whom they wished they could be. Yet one calm summer night, Richard took his own life!
Wonder of wonders, a man who seemingly had it all, chose to end his own life. What can we infer from this story? How can one with the right blend of grace and character, wealth and riches, choose to put an end to it all? One reason may be that although Richard had so much for us to be envious of, he was missing one of the basic necessities of life which is having a true friend. Of course, he had people who wanted to be his friend, but no one who shared the same similarities and background. Without common ground to share, he may have found it hard to truly accept anyone around him as friend. Another rationale for Richard killing himself is simply because he was...

...﻿RichardCory Revision
“RichardCory” is a world-renowned narrative poem by Edwin Arlington Robinson. It was first published in 1897, during a time when the US economy was still suffering from a severe depression. RichardCory is admired by the townspeople because he was rich, educated, and a gentleman. RichardCory went home one summer night and shot himself in the head. “RichardCory” is a poem that employs rich imagery, contains an impacting theme, and relates to modern society
“RichardCory” is a very relatable poem. Richard was a man who had it all. He was a gentleman, rich, and very well educated. The townspeople were jealous of Richard for he had everything anyone could ask for, except happiness. This poem is relatable for me because when I was in ninth grade one of my classmates committed suicide. He was a kid who seemed like he had it all. He was a very popular, and well liked among my grade. When my classmates and I had found out that he had killed himself nobody believed it, and then we heard over the announcements that it was true. The silence mixed with crying was the worst noise I had ever heard. The most upsetting part was no one had seen it coming, much like RichardCory.
Edwin Robinson uses rich imagery throughout this poem,...